4 Challenges Beverage Packaging Industry will Face in 2017

Whether it is food, clothes, cosmetics or accessories, various companies have tagged the consumer as the kingpin of the market and the products are developed on the basis of their choice, trend, taste and priority. A whooping number of customers judge and opt for products based on their packaging. Hence, packaging is an indispensable part of product development and launch. Over the years, marketing trends have witnessed various transformations on this front. Presentation attracts customers to products. Turning the pages of history, packaging process for products previously were limited to its application of securing the product within the package. Today, products are developed, manufactured and packaged in a way that would attract customers. Packaging is a tool that strengthens a product’s brand loyalty and increases its customer base as well. While there are various factors that benefit product, there are factors that pose great challenges to packaging companies. Five significant factors that pose challenges while packaging a product are mentioned below.

One significant challenge that packaging companies deal with currently relate to its attributes. Packaging a product depends on the sector it which it belongs. For instance, if product is from food sector, then packaging companies have to ensure that packaging does not hamper quality of food or is not harmful for health. If it is a technical product, company has to ensure the packages provide cushion to its surface, and reduces and risk of contamination, which can deteriorate the product quality. Furthermore, these companies need to ensure that they manufacture bio-degradable packages that can be recycled, environment friendly and used in future. Many companies today use cardboards or cloth-materials while manufacturing packages to ensure they decompose when thrown away. They need to further ensure that packages are strong and sustainable.

2. Ethics

Business and environmental sustainability don’t always go hand in hand. Packaging companies need to manufacture packages in parallel to ethics. They need to ensure the packages are bio-degradable and attractive at the same time. To sell their products, various businesses and companies attempt developing strong and contamination-proof packages, while doing so they tend deviate from the ethics they were meant to follow. Various factors such as, indirect offence to any religious group should be avoided as it would limit the purchase of products to only that sect of the society. Composition of the material should not be harmful for the customer or it should not deteriorate the quality of product, else it will lead to losses for the both, packaging company and the company offering the product.

3. Contradicting the Product

Packaging companies while manufacturing packages need to check if labels does not display any contradicting or false information in order to increase its customer base and sustain in the competitive market. Package of products display information related to it such as, ingredients or composition, directions, manufacturing and expiry dates, caution, labels, barcode and indications and others. Packages need to be specific about its product description and ensure it does not contradict or display false image that could degrade its brand name or cease its production or sales. Such contradicting information would hinder customer loyalty and shrink its customer base. Package should mention only what the product can offer.

4. Time taken to create waste

While it is an undeniable fact that packages manufactured take a lot of investment and time to ensure they are attractive and innovative to increase its customer base. The tragic hits packaging companies when packages are thrown away post purchase of products. Packaging companies invest in terms of creativity, innovation and time to offer a reasonable, stable and affordable package to reduce any loss or risk of contamination. Another significant factor is that the packages are tossed in trash as soon as they are purchased. Their existence only limits to the point customer decides to make purchase of products. Packages serve no purpose to customers unless products are technology related such as, such as televisions, air conditioners, microwaves, etc, and need to be packaged back similarly when they plan on shifting.

Moreover, in order to add an innovative tinge to packages, companies manufacture complex packages. These kind of packages need more investment and a lot of creativity in coordination with logic. However, this factor can shrink the customer base of product owing to dislike of its design and huge investment could increase price of the overall product. Customers would look for a cheaper product more so, if it is a product for basic necessity. Therefore, companies need to ensure that packages are manufactured in a manner that the overall price of products remain affordable, while there are no compromise on its quality either.

Abhishek Budholiya
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